musica Dei donum
CD reviews
Johann KUHNAU (1660-1722): "Complete Sacred Works I & III"
[I] "Complete Sacred Works I"
Opella Musica; camerata lipsiensis
Dir: Gregor Meyer
rec: July 3 - 5, 2013, Rötha, St. Georgen
CPO - 777 868-2 (© 2014) (70'08")
Liner-notes: E/D; lyrics - translations: E
Cover, track-list & booklet
Spotify
Daran erkennen wir, dass wir in ihm bleiben;
Es steh Gott auf;
Mein Alter kömmt, ich kann nicht sterben;
Tristis est anima mea (attr);
Welt, adieu, ich bin dein müde;
Wenn ihr fröhlich seid an euren Festen
[OM] Isabel Meyer-Kalis, Heidi Maria Taubert, soprano;
David Erler, alto;
Tobias Hunger, tenor;
Friedemann Klos, bass
[cl] Mathias Kiesling, transverse flute;
Markus Müller, Annelie Matthes, oboe;
Axel Andrae, bassoon;
Stephan Katte, Thomas Friedlaender, horn;
Rupprecht Johannes Drees, Alexander Pfeiffer, Ulf Lehmann, Bruno Bastian Falko Lösche, trumpet;
Kentaro Wada, Falko Munkwitz, Yosuke Kurihara, trombone;
Birgit Schnurpfeil, Yumiko Tsubaki, violin;
Caroline Kersten, Magdalena Schenk-Bader, viola;
Ulrike Becker, cello;
Felix Görg/Carsten Hundt, double bass
Stephan Rath, lute;
Bernadette Mészáros, harpsichord;
Gregor Meyer, organ;
Daniel Schäbe, timpani
[II] "Complete Sacred Works III"
Opella Musica; camerata lipsiensis
Dir: Gregor Meyer
rec: June 21 - 23, 2016, Rötha, St. Georgen
CPO - 555 021-2 (© 2017) (74'17")
Liner-notes: E/D; lyrics - translations: E
Cover, track-list & booklet
Spotify
Frohlocket, ihr Völker, und jauchzet, ihr Heiden;
Magnificat in C (with Christmas insertions);
O heilige Zeit a 2;
O heilige Zeit a 4
[OM] Isabel Janitschek, Heidi Maria Taubert, soprano;
David Erler, alto;
Tobias Hhunger, tenor;
Friedemann Klos, bass
[cl] Luise Haugk, Robert Mathes, oboe;
Györgyi Farkas, bassoon;
Ruprecht Drees, Ulf Behrens, Alexander Pfeifer, trumpet;
Birgit Schnurpfeil, Yumiko Tsubaki, violin;
Caroline Kersten, Magdalena Schenk-Bader, viola;
Ulrike Becker, cello;
Tilman Schmidt, double bass;
Gregor Meyer, organ;
Daniel Schaebe, timpani
Scores
The post of Thomaskantor in Leipzig was one of the most important and most prestigious in Protestant Germany. No wonder, then, that the town council only wanted this position to be occupied by the best composer available. When in 1723 a successor to Johann Kuhnau, who had died the previous year, had to be appointed, it turned to Georg Philipp Telemann, then generally considered top of the bill. When he turned down the offer, Christoph Graupner was elected, at the time Kapellmeister at the court in Darmstadt. As his employer did not want him to go, the council had to satisfy itself with Johann Sebastian Bach.
The conflicts between the new Kantor and the town council are well documented. One of Bach's complaints was that he did not have enough capable singers at his disposal. That complaint was not new: his predecessor had to deal with the same problem. Michael Maul, in his liner-notes to the first of the discs reviewed here, writes: "Kuhnau vociferously complained that, unlike the days of the 'formerly well-staffed music director' (under the cantors Knüpfer and Schelle), he was now forced to 'arrange his own church compositions poorly enough to accommodate the inferior skills' of the musicians left at his disposal". In this case, there was a specific reason for his complaints. He experienced strong competition from musicians of a younger generation, in particular Telemann, who had founded an independent body of musicians at the Neue Kirche, and from the various Collegia Musica which had come into existence. Kuhnau felt that the position of Thomaskantor was under serious threat, and this inspired him to complain about the style favoured by representatives of the younger generation. These complaints, which Maul calls "inept", have led musicologists to believe that Kuhnau was an archconservative, who resisted the influence of the modern Italian style in church music. However, a thorough analysis of Kuhnau's oeuvre proves otherwise.
By all accounts Kuhnau was brilliant, intellectually and musically. He received an outstanding education and came into contact with some of the brightest minds of his time. He was a kind of uomo universale, who was active as a lawyer, but also as an author of various books, spoke several languages and was also knowledgeable in theology and mathematics. He spent the main part of his life in Leipzig, where he was appointed as organist in the Thomaskirche in 1684. In 1701 he succeeded Johann Schelle as Thomaskantor. In this capacity he was the teacher of three of Germany's most renowned composers of the generation of Bach: Johann David Heinichen, Johann Friedrich Fasch and Christoph Graupner.
The position of Thomaskantor may have been very important, but in modern performance practice Bach's predecessors have not received the attention they deserve. The exception is Johann Hermann Schein, who was Thomaskantor from 1616 until his death in 1630. He was succeeded by Tobias Michael, whose oeuvre is very badly represented on disc. His successors Sebastian Knüpfer (Thomaskantor from 1657 to 1676) and Johann Schelle (1676 to 1701) have fared a little better, but the largest part of their oeuvre also waits to be rediscovered. In comparison, Kuhnau has been largely neglected, and that could well be due to the rather negative assessment of his oeuvre by musicologists, as mentioned above. From that perspective, the initiative to record his complete sacred works is of great importance. It is telling that all except one of the works on the first volume of this project are first recordings, as are two of the four on the second.
The six works on Volume I are written for different stages of the ecclesiastical year and at different times in Kuhnau's life. Mein Alter kömmt, ich kann nicht sterben was written for Candlemas. Jesus is presented in the temple, and Mary and Joseph meet Simeon, who then sings his canticle (Nunc dimittis). The cantata, scored for five voices (SSATB), two violins, two violas and basso continuo, opens - as most of Kuhnau's sacred works - with a sinfonia. Then a free text is given to the tenor, who has five solos, which differ in form: two of them have the traces of a recitative, which shows that Kuhnau was open to modern trends. This is even more surprising, as this piece dates from long before Kuhnau was Thomaskantor. There are reasons to believe that it was written during his days in Zittau around 1681. The text, written by Christian Weise, rector of the Grammar School in Zittau, was published under the title of A recitation in the character of the of the aged Simeon at Candlemas. The piece closes with a chorus on the text of Simeon's canticle in German: "Herr, nun lässest du deinen Diener in Frieden fahren".
Two pieces are intended for Easter. According to the surviving copy, Es steh Gott auf was first performed in 1703. It is scored for five voices and a large instrumental ensemble of five-part strings, two trumpets, three trombones and timpani. After a sinfonia, the chorus opens with a rising figure on the text "Let God arise". It is followed by a solo for soprano with three trombones. Another solo for soprano and a solo for bass lead to a repeat of the sinfonia and the opening chorus. The second piece for Easter is Wenn ihr fröhlich seid an euren Festen; here the instrumental scoring is for five-part strings, four trumpets, bassoon and timpani. The opening sonata is followed by a chorus, which begins with a duet of the two sopranos. A solo for alto is followed by another chorus. Next is a solo for bass, in which the violins imitate trumpets. The second half is repeated by the tutti. A solo for the two sopranos leads to the concluding 'Amen' section. The text is a mixture of quotations from the Bible and free poetry.
Daran erkennen wir, dass wir in Ihm bleiben is a cantata for Whitsuntide. It is scored for five voices and five-part strings, with two oboes, two trumpets, bassoon and timpani. The text is from the pen of Johann Christoph Wentzel, rector of the Grammar School of Altenburg. It was published in a collection of cantatas for the entire ecclesiastical year, and Michael Maul suggests that Kuhnau may have set the entire collection. Unfortunately, a large part of his oeuvre has been lost; only around 30 cantatas by Kuhnau have come down to us. A sonata and a chorus open the proceedings; another chorus closes the cantata. In between are three solos for two sopranos, for bass and for alto, tenor and bass respectively.
Welt adieu, ich bin dein müde is a cantata for the 24th Sunday after Trinity. The Gospel of that Sunday is from Matthew 9, which includes the story of the resurrection of Jairus's daughter from the dead. This was often taken as the starting point of reflections on death and resurrection in general. For this Sunday, Bach composed his cantatas BWV 26 (Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig) and BWV 60 (O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort). The latter ends with the chorale 'Es ist genug': "It is enough; Lord, if it pleases you, then do unharness me". That is also the tenor of the chorale Welt ade, ich bin dein müde, which Johann Rosenmüller wrote for a funeral. The opening stanza was used by Bach in his cantata BWV 27. Kuhnau's cantata is probably one of his latest surviving works, and notable for being almost the only chorale cantata from his pen. It opens with a sonata which turns into a chorus. On the line "O world, you are full of war and strife", Kuhnau makes use of the stile concitato, often also used for pieces for St Michael's Day. The same is the case in the closing chorus, whose text is partly the same. In between are six solo episodes; here the chorale melody is mostly hardly recognizable. The second solo section is for two sopranos, who are accompanied by two horns. It is followed by a solo for alto, transverse flute and oboe. In the second solo for bass, Kuhnau creates a marked contrast within the last half, between the lines referring to distress, toil, fear and death on the one hand, and those about peace, joy and bliss on the other. The soprano and alto parts have been lost, but were reconstructed for this performance.
The only piece on this disc that is fairly well-known and is available in several recordings, is the motet Tristis est anima mea, scored for five voices a capella. However, for stylistic reasons there are some doubts about Kuhnau's authorship, which is based on the attribution in a 19th-century source, part of the estate of Johann Gottfried Schicht, Thomaskantor from 1810 to 1823. Michael Maul suggests that it may have been written by Antonio Lotti, who worked in Dresden from 1717 to 1719, and whose sacred music was well-known in Germany. Bach made an arrangement of this motet on a German text, Der Gerechte kömmt um, which may well support Maul's suggestion, as it is known that Bach admired Lotti's music and studied it carefully. Moreover, "Lotti is said to have 'consigned' an entire package of church pieces to Kuhnau, including a Mass, a Kyrie and various psalm settings" (booklet).
The second disc under review here is Volume III in this project, which is entirely devoted to compositions for Christmastide. That is to say: liturgically, the Magnificat could be performed at several occasions, such as the feasts for the Blessed Virgin and at Christmastide, but it was also part of Vesper services. However, Kuhnau's setting is such that it was clearly intended for a major feast, as it is scored for three trumpets, timpani, two oboes, strings and basso continuo. It shows strong similarity to Bach's setting: Kuhnau's successor used the same scoring, but added two flute parts. Moreover, the string body in Kuhnau's setting is in five parts - which was common practice in the 17th century - whereas Bach divided it in four parts. In this recording the similarity goes even further, as Meyer included the four laudes, which were traditionally inserted into Magnificat performances at Christmastide in Leipzig. They are exactly the same as those in Bach's setting in E flat. However, Kuhnau's setting has been preserved without these insertions. They have been included here on the basis of a set of parts for a 'Cantata for Christmas: Vom Himmel hoch'. The term 'cantata' does not indicate its character: the work comprises the four laudes, known from Bach's setting. David Erler made an edition of both works, and here we get the first recording of this 'Christmas version'. (Masaaki Suzuki, in his recording of this work (BIS, 2000), did not include the laudes; recently, Solomon's Knot recorded the Christmas versions by both Kuhnau and Bach.
This disc offers further food for thought as far as Kuhnau's approach to modern trends in music is concerned, and invites for further comparison with the oeuvre of this successor, Johann Sebastian Bach. The second large-scale work on this disc is quite interesting in this regard. It is probably one of the latest extant compositions from Kuhnau's pen. Frohlocket, ihr Völker, und jauchzet, ihr Heiden is intended for Christmas Day and is scored for four voices, four-part strings, three trumpets, timpani and basso continuo. Notable is the fact that the opening chorus has the traces of a violin concerto. The violin also plays an obbligato role in the first aria (for tenor), as does the organ. The size and structure of the opening chorus, which has a dacapo form and takes almost nine minutes in this recording, suggests that there is no real rift between Kuhnau and Bach, but rather a continuum. The arias are also of considerable lenght: 6'21" and 7'19" respectively; both have a dacapo. Notable is also that the second aria, for alto, is founded on a basso ostinato figure; it is called aria da ciaconna. It is a setting of a free poetic text; the choruses at the beginning and the end embrace two pairs of recitative and aria.
The two cantatas with the title O heilige Zeit, intended for the third Christmas Day, are interesting in a different way. The texts are only partially identical. The version for four voices, two violins, two violas and basso continuo is considered an early work. The text is from the pen of Erdmann Neumeister, who included it in a collection of librettos for the entire ecclesiastical year, which was printed in 1702. Notable is that it does not include a dictum, a literal quotation from the Bible. Moreover, Neumeister used the modern form of recitatives and arias, taken from contemporary Italian opera. Kuhnau follows his own path: the first section is conceived as a chorus. It includes short solo episodes, some with the character of a recitative. It is followed by an aria for bass in the style of an operatic rage aria. Next is an accompanied recitative for alto, which at the end turns into an arioso. The cantata ends with another accompanied recitative, for bass this time, which leads to the closing chorus, where Neumeister returns to the text which is the core of the cantata: "O heilige Zeit". Musically Kuhnau picks up motifs from the opening chorus. The second piece with the same title has a largely different text: the first two sections have the same text as in the previous cantata, but the remaining sections are from a different and unknown source. The scoring is for soprano, bass, two oboes, two violins, viola and basso continuo. The instrumental scoring in four parts indicates that it is a later work. In fact, there are reasons to believe that Kuhnau is not the composer of this piece. The setting of the bass aria is very different, much more operatic according to contemporary standards, than that of the previous cantata. Michael Maul, in his liner-notes, suggests that Telemann may be the composer; other options are Johann David Heinichen or Johann Friedrich Fasch. The source does not name the composer, and the name of Kuhnau was added in the 19th century. This version opens with a sinfonia of a concertante nature. Here the first vocal section is an accompanied recitative for soprano. The bass aria is followed by a secco recitative and an aria, both for soprano.
These two discs indicate that this project may well result in a complete turnaround in the appreciation of Kuhnau's sacred music. The pieces included in these two discs are quite fascinating. Every piece has something which catches the attention. As Kuhnau was one of those who are the link between the sacred concerto of the 17th century and the cantata of the 18th, it is not surprising to find pieces in different styles as well as some hybrid works in his oeuvre. It is a matter of good fortune that this series has been continued (further volumes will be reviewed here in due course) and that the performances are of a consistently high level. It is notable that Meyer decided to perform every piece with one voice per part; he does not add ripienists in the tutti sections. The version for four voices of O heilige Zeit has been recorded by Cantus Cölln, which does add singers in the tutti; I tend to prefer that performance. However, both performances share the same approach: this is ensemble music, and that comes to the fore in the balance between the voices and the instruments, which are treated on equal footing. My only reservation is that sometimes the performances are a bit too restrained, but that may well be a matter of taste.
Johan van Veen (© 2021)
Relevant links:
Opella Musica